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Archive for May, 2009

Temperaments

published on: 15.05.2009 in: All entries

During the parent evening at my son’s daycare center, one of the teachers told us about Rudolf Steiner’s outlook on character. Steiner said there are four temperaments: Melancholic, Phlegmatic, Sanguine and Choleric. The teacher went on to describe how every child often has a little of all four, but is usually predominantly one. Each temperament […]

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Good enough?

published on: 14.05.2009 in: All entries

As the date of our flamenco performance nears, it is becoming increasingly clear that a career in flamenco simply is not laid out for me. I’m doing okayish, and truth be said I simply don’t have the energy to do better than that. Yesterday, I kept telling myself that was all right: we shouldn’t want […]

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Question

published on: 13.05.2009 in: All entries

Identity is like happiness. It's not a problem unless you question it.

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Class

published on: 12.05.2009 in: All entries

I was invited to read from my novel and answer questions during a university class on Literature of the Dutch West Indies. I was early and so I sat in on the class. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more observed. Not that I could blame the students, my novel was sitting on each of […]

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Moving around

published on: 11.05.2009 in: All entries

This weekend, I met up with five classmates from high school who I hadn’t seen in a very long time. Seeing them felt odd, almost like I was coming home after a really long trip. All of us had gone to International Schools which means our parents’ jobs had taken us to various countries in […]

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Humbling

published on: 07.05.2009 in: All entries

[Deleted, as I felt I was getting a little melodramatic. Also, I didn't want to embarass my specialist by pouring out words of gratitude into the world. I'm sure he knows I am.]

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Voice

published on: 06.05.2009 in: All entries

Both my grandmothers passed away a few years ago. One of them used to sing, and an aunt recently transferred her album recordings to a cd. So while I work, every now and then my grandmother sings to me through shuffled playlists. I can't think of anything more defining than someone's voice. You hear them […]

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published on: 05.05.2009 in: All entries

Today they're gone. The wind has swept them off the streets, cleared the air. Which is grey, today, as the trees grieve the death of blossom.

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in: All entries

On falling, they huddle together alongside the pavement and rustle in defiance when the wind picks them up in twirls.

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published on: 04.05.2009 in: All entries

Withered leaves of blossom make way for Summer’s green as they fall from the trees and float in the air like snow drops.

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